WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6 issued five new subpoenas on Monday, targeting allies of former President Donald J. Trump who helped draw crowds to Washington before the riot, including the political operative Roger J. Stone Jr. and the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The subpoenas, which come after the committee has interviewed more than 200 witnesses, indicate that investigators are intent on learning the details of the planning and financing of rallies that drew Mr. Trump’s supporters to Washington based on his lies of a stolen election, fueling the violence that engulfed Congress and delayed the formalization of President Biden’s victory.
“We need to know who organized, planned, paid for and received funds related to those events, as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee.
Mr. Stone promoted his attendance at the rallies on Jan. 5 and 6, and solicited support to pay for security through the website stopthesteal.org. While in Washington, he used members of the Oath Keepers as personal security guards; at least one of them has been indicted on charges that he was involved in the Capitol attack.
Mr. Jones reportedly helped organize the rally at the Ellipse near the White House that immediately preceded the riot, including by facilitating a donation to provide what he described as “80 percent” of the funding, the House committee said. Mr. Jones has said that White House officials told him that he was to lead a march to the Capitol, where Mr. Trump would meet the group and speak, according to the committee.
Mr. Stone and Mr. Jones were among the group of Trump allies meeting in and around the Willard Intercontinental Hotel near the White House the day before the riot.
Mr. Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, was seen flashing his signature Nixon victory sign to fans as members of the Oath Keepers protected him. He was also photographed on Jan. 5 with Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser who has also been subpoenaed, but Mr. Stone has claimed that he was leaving town as rioters stormed the Capitol. Mr. Stone said he decided against a plan to “lead a march” from the White House Ellipse to the Capitol on Jan. 6 but decided against it, according to video posted to social media.
Mr. Jones conducted an interview of Mr. Flynn from the Willard on Jan. 5 and then was seen among the crowd of Mr. Trump’s supporters the next day, amplifying false claims of widespread fraud with a bullhorn. ¶
The committee is also demanding documents and testimony from Dustin Stockton and his fiancé, Jennifer Lawrence, who reportedly assisted in organizing a series of rallies after the November 2020 election advancing false claims about the election’s outcome.
Mr. Stockton reportedly was concerned that the rally at the Ellipse would lead to a march to the Capitol that would mean “possible danger” which he said “felt unsafe,” and these concerns were escalated to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, the committee said.
The committee also issued a subpoena to Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, who reportedly solicited nonprofit organizations to conduct a social media and radio advertising campaign encouraging attendance at the Jan. 6 Ellipse rally and advancing unsupported claims about the result of the election, the committee said.
The subpoenas demand that all five individuals produce documents and testimony by mid-December.
The subpoenas come as the committee is engaged in a struggle to compel some allies of Mr. Trump to comply with its investigation. One Trump ally, Stephen K. Bannon, has been charged with federal crimes after refusing to comply with a committee subpoena, while members of the committee have said they are considering recommending contempt of Congress charges be brought against two other potential witnesses: Mr. Meadows and Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice lawyer involved in Mr. Trump’s frenzied plans to overturn the election.
